Changes in classroom key, educators say

On a recent morning, the limerick was the most popular offering among 5th graders at Sunny Hill Elementary School during their annual poetry festival.

But the pupils at this predominantly Latino school in Carpentersville aren't only reciting silly Irish rhymes, they also are bridging the achievement gap with white pupils in the high-performing Barrington Community Unit School District 220.

About 80 percent of the pupils at Sunny Hill passed the 2006 Illinois Standards Achievement Test, a 16 percentage-point increase over the previous year.

Across Illinois and the nation, the story is much the same: Latino pupils are scoring better on state standardized tests and continuing to catch up to their white peers faster than African-American pupils.

Though critics have charged that last year's state test was easier--causing record-high scores for all Illinois pupils--Latinos experienced double-digit gains, continuing a five-year trend of rising scores.

State and local educators attribute the higher scores to comprehensive changes in the classroom, including new teaching strategies, extra staff and parental outreach.

"Once children develop a strong language background in their native language, the transition to English is going to be expedited and it's going to be strong," said Margo Gottlieb, director of assessment at the Illinois Resource Center, which trains educators to work with diverse students.

Statewide, Latino pupils passed 71 percent of all math, reading and science ISAT exams in 2006, compared with 59 percent the previous year, according to a Tribune analysis of test data.

Gains on IMAGE test

English learners, a majority of whom are Latinos, also made strides since last year with 62 percent passing a test geared toward their language skills--a 12 percentage-point gain over 2005 results. The test, called IMAGE, was given last year in reading and math to 3rd through 8th graders and 11th graders.

Analyzing data for Latinos is complicated because the group is so diverse, ranging from longtime residents to new immigrants.

Theories for the academic disparity between Latino and black children vary but include the notion that immigrant children generally tend to do well. Others say that Latinos, who are moving into suburbs at a higher rate than African-Americans, may be more accepted there than blacks--and therefore benefit more from the schools.

Still, tensions have surrounded Latinos in Barrington District 220 and in Carpentersville, where the city has been considering allowing police to question people they arrest about their immigration status.

Concerns about test scores at Sunny Hill, where about 73 percent of the pupils are Latino, twice contributed to the defeat of a proposal to build two new middle schools.

At a packed and often divisive community forum last year, some homeowners complained that the Sunny Hill pupils could be concentrated in two of the four middle schools--potentially creating a disparity in test scores between the schools.

Far from the debate, teachers at Sunny Hill encouraged pupils to speak up as they shyly recited their poems recently while attentive classmates drank steaming cups of hot chocolate.

"Sometimes in schools with high poverty, there's a tendency to think students don't know anything and we need to fill their heads, but we have moved to a more active learning model," said Principal Louise Robb.

Underlying all the efforts is a philosophy of high expectations, regardless of a child's home life, said Robb and Assistant Principal Rick Aceves, a first generation Mexican-American.

"I can see myself in them," said Aceves, who learned English as a kindergartner in California. "I have an understanding of the challenges of learning a language and living between two cultures."

Many educators are wary of placing too much emphasis on last year's test results, when pupils were given more time to answer questions. In addition, pupils who qualify for bilingual education had all day to finish the ISAT last year, according to state officials.

Other states make such accommodations, and some allow students to use Spanish/English dictionaries during testing and to have translators to help students better understand questions, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

A 2004 change by federal education officials allowed schools to give their English language learners two extra years to take a modified test. That boosted the ISAT scores in largely Latino schools because pupils who might have struggled with this test were allowed to take the simplified IMAGE exam.

In Chicago, more than 60 percent of Latino pupils passed the ISAT reading tests in 2006, and more than 70 percent met state math standards. In high school, those gains start to level off, where only about a third of Latino juniors meet state standards in reading and math.

No gain at some schools

At some elementary schools, however, where more than three-quarters of the population are Latino, scores stagnated or even declined.